Today, it’s a fairly common occurrence in South Africa to encounter wild animals on a golf course, but at Ba-Phalaborwa in the far north of the country it feels very different from anywhere else. With 18 holes bordering the fence of the Kruger Park there’s a sense while playing golf that you’re intruding on their territory, rather than the other way around.
Stray any distance off the fairway into the dusty bushveld and you’re walking on parched red earth that’s full of hoof prints, evidence of a multitude of animals passing through. Hippos grunt throughout the day in the large water hole behind the 16th green, and while I was playing two crocodiles stayed for hours basking in the winter sun some 30 metres from the 17th green. I had noticed them early in my round playing the fourth hole. Any water hole has to be approached with caution, as there just might be a croc lurking in its depths.
It had been more than 20 years since I had last visited the old Hans Merensky Country Club, now renamed Ba-Phalaborwa, and I travelled there with anticipation on hearing that the course had been re-opened in May having been closed for at least two years. Locals are delighted to have a golf course again, and membership is growing. Over the past decade I had heard sad stories about Hans Merensky’s deterioration under private ownership. It was ranked as one of the Top 20 courses in South Africa until 2005, a bucket-list destination going back to the 1970s when it first caught the imagination of local golfers.
By 2005 the place had already started changing shape, with estate homes being built alongside some of the fairways (unobtrusive though, tucked away in the bush). Before that, golfers could feel quite alone in the far reaches of the course. I experienced a sense of that quiet remoteness on the fourth green, up against the park fence, while playing 18 on my own. I did have a golf cart, though, whereas this always used to be a course where golfers walked.
I stayed in one of those homes for a few days, on the fifth fairway, and it was a relaxing and tranquil experience. Most of the other homes were empty, and there were more animals on the fairways than golfers, even on a Saturday. It’s only dirt roads away from the clubhouse area, which added to the attractiveness of the environment.
Hans Merensky’s downfall began when South Africa was awarded the FIFA World Cup in 2004. The previous owner mistakenly believed there would be an influx of foreign visitors to the area during the 2010 tournament, and went on a building spree around the clubhouse to accommodate them. The folly of that decision can be seen today playing No 11, a 498-metre par 5. Empty thatch-roofed double-storey buildings with hundreds of rooms line the left side of the hole. All that development did adversely affect the special atmosphere that once existed. There used to be chalets on his hole where golfers could stay and braai if they wished.
Indalo Hotels & Leisure are busy rehabilitating the property with the intention of reviving it as a resort destination. First step has been re-opening the course and establishing a temporary clubhouse. There’s a range facility. By March 2025, in time for the region’s annual Marula Festival, the main clubhouse will be open for business, and there will be a limited number of rooms available for guests. More rooms will be opened during 2025, leading up to the full opening of the hotel and spa by December 2025.
The only upgrade to the course has been the building of attractive new bunkers by Michael Scholz of Bunker Armour. The white sand provides a distinctive new look to the course and the bunker shaping enhances the greens complexes. Some bunkers are surprisingly substantial. The majority guard the greens, although here and there they strategically frame the fairways.
The greens are slowly coming back to how they used to be in better times, and are quickening up, although still slow by the standard of Gauteng courses. The fairways at this time of year are dry and bare but very playable. My rounds were enjoyable despite that because the course is one of Bob Grimsdell’s best designs. There’s an excellent flow to the routing through softly undulating terrain.
At 6 393 metres from the Rhino tees it’s not a long course, reflecting its age, and broad fairways means you can keep hitting driver all the way round other than on the 3s. It didn’t have a Course Rating or Slope, but a GolfRSA team were due to visit during July for that purpose.
Curiously, three of the 3s (2-8-17) are virtually alongside each other, utilising the water holes in that area of the course, and each is an excellent challenge.
There are back-to-back par 5s at No 4 and 5, both playing longer than they look as they climb uphill to their respective greens. They are followed by two memorable 4s, with No 6 a natural stroke 1 that requires a perfectly placed long drive down the left side of the fairway to create an opening to the green. A big tree on the right blocks anything average. The par 4s are mostly of a similar length, between 354 and 411 metres, yet the changing terrain means they each play differently in terms of club selection. There’s a shorter 4 of 338 metres, yet this is slightly uphill and the fairway turns left between tall trees towards a beautiful green site.
The opening holes on each nine, medium par 4s, go down a slope to similarly shaped greens, and No 9 and 18, longer par 4s, play uphill, which makes for a tough finish. No 18 has a man-made water feature right of the green which I couldn’t remember being there on my previous visit.